U.S. President Joe Biden on Saturday called Russian President Vladimir Putin a tyrant and dictator who “cannot remain in power.”
In a speech in Warsaw, Poland, he condemned Putin’s war in Ukraine, while sympathizing with the Ukrainian people who have had their homeland destroyed by Russian forces, as well as the Russian people who have been “cut off from the rest of the world.”
Mr. Biden spoke of Putin’s assault on Ukraine, drawing comparisons to World War II and the era of the Soviet Union. “But the battle for democracy could not and did not conclude with the end of the Cold War,” he said.
He said Russia has “strangled democracy” both in Ukraine and at home. Mr. Biden accused Putin of using “disinformation” and “brute force” in Russia to squash resistance to the war and to cut the Russian people off from the rest of the world, and the truth.
Speaking directly to the Russian people, whom he said are not the enemy, Mr. Biden said: “I am telling you the truth: this war is not worthy of you, the Russian people.”
Meanwhile, he applauded the Ukrainian people for standing up to the Russian forces, and sympathized with Ukrainian refugees. Earlier Saturday, Mr. Biden met with refugees in Poland. He said one little girl asked him whether she would see her brother and dad, who were still in Ukraine, again.
Mr. Biden said “this war has already been a strategic failure for Russia” because of Ukrainian people’s resolve for democracy and freedom, and the democracies of the world remaining united.
“The gravity of the threat is why the response from the West has been so swift, so powerful and so united,” Mr. Biden said.
And he called on the West to remain unified. “We must commit now to be in this fight for the long haul,” he said.
Earlier Saturday, Mr. Biden met with Polish President Andrzej Sebastian Duda. He thanked the Polish president for accepting Ukrainian refugees, and pledged to continue to support humanitarian efforts. The two also discussed their coordinated defense efforts, reducing Europe’s reliance on Russian energy, and their climate goals.
Mr. Biden also visited the PGE Narodowy Stadium, where he spoke with many Ukrainian refugees and volunteers. He told reporters that seeing the humanitarian crisis firsthand made him think of Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a butcher.”
He also called the Ukrainian people “amazing.”
Saturday is the final day of the president’s whirlwind trip to Belgium and Poland, which began with meetings of the G7 and NATO. In Brussels, NATO leaders agreed to add four battle groups along the Eastern Flank, and Mr. Biden announced an additional $1 billion in military aid to Ukraine. The U.S. is also accepting up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees.
On Friday, Mr. Biden visited troops in the 82nd Airborne Division based in Poland, not far from the Ukrainian border, recognizing them for stepping up and volunteering to serve the country and the world. The president told the troops that their mission was urgent and consequential, that they were “in the midst of a fight between democracies and oligarchs.”
“Who is going to prevail,” he asked. “Are democracies going to prevail … and the values we share? Or are autocracies going to prevail? And that’s really what’s at stake.”